What makes a succesful friend NPC

[Stahn Li]

I will be starting up a campaign shortly and have already drawn maps and made villians.

Now one thing I like to have in my campaigns is one or two NPC's the party meets along there way that they soon befriend and starts traveling with the party. I usually have these NPC's as comic relief and a way to get the voice of the DM in the game in case the party is way off track.

But this doesn't work unless the party likes the NPC. The last NPC like this that I wrote and whom I designed to be likable got chopped in half with a sythe when he first met the party. Others NPC who insult the party on a regular basis, have no loyalty, and refuse to cooperate with party plans, have been big hits and the PC's loved interacting with them.


So the question is what elements are involved in a succesful NPC of this nature?

 

[dreaded_beast]

I believe a big factor is what do your players want in their NPCs. Some groups love the "annoying" sidekick while others hate them. On the otherhand, others love the "do-gooder" while others hate them, so on and so on.

Maybe if you speak to the group about what they like and what you like, you can come up with a compromise that works out for the both of you.

In my former group, the DM always introduced NPCs that were either the "arrogant, insulting", "always wanted to fight", or "the know-it-all". While interesting the first time around, all 3 got fairly old pretty quick, mainly because I dislike NPCs of that nature, probably because I dislike those qualities in RL. :\

 

[RangerWickett]

Stahn Li was my DM for the last campaign I played in, so let me first start by shouting a big thanks to him for a really fun experience, and for all the advice he's given me on my games. When you show up in a couple weeks, I'll give you a belated GM's Day present. I know you don't know how to read, so I figure I'll get you the Book of Erotic Fantasy, for the pretty pictures.

Now, as to friend characters, the first piece of advice is not to have the 'friendly traveling companion' try to ingratiate himself into the group by saying, "I've been studying you for weeks, and know everything about you. I want to help, but if you don't let me come along, I'll write a tell-all book about you, and sell it to your enemies."

Especially not with Matt and Hamid playing. Next time wait for me and Beth's characters to join the group.

I dunno. You could make the character related to one of the PCs (it worked for Katrina), or if the group is right have the NPC be a helpless person they want to protect (it worked for Crystin), or be a potentially valuable hostage that the group won't want to kill, and who will have time to see that he or she likes the party (like Shalosha).

The best two heavily-active NPCs I've had go along with my parties were in my games back home. The first started off as the friend of the party's late employer, who joined with the PCs to help them avenge his death. She helped them explore the Underdark, which they were unfamiliar with, and she needed the party's help as much as they needed hers. By working together on adventures, she became as much a part of the group as the real PCs.

The other major NPC I had with a party was on a pilgrimage, and the party met her, liked her, and ended up getting hired by her mentor to escort her on travels to various magical sites around the world. They initially were really interested in her because the group was all together on the same sailing vessel, and there was this mysterious figure wrapped head to toe in cloth, with an obviously magical staff. The group eventually learned that she'd recently been scarred by a red dragon's breath, and hadn't had a chance to receive proper healing, so they were sympathetic to her pain.

I think the most consistent thing that's worked for ongoing NPCs is that they're higher level than the party, but only just, and they provide a type of power or knowledge the group needs but doesn't have.

 

[JoeGKushner]

NPC Essentials

Great book with tons of advice. One of the better ones on building NPCs.

For me, I find that there are a few ways to get the voice of the GM in character.

Patrons: Often only good when the party is in town or uner training.

Rivals: Sometimes rivals can be friendly and if played just right where they are a little weaker or stronger in different areas than the players, makes for interesting games. If one of the players is a master with the two-handed sword and up close combat, make one of the NPC's a master of the bow, always getting that killing shot in or killing the opponent that the player charges.

Friends/Family/Professional: In the former, these are people that the characters have known all their life. The Wheel of Time does a good job of showing the farmboys done right. For family, it could be a cousin or uncle who think that they know everything and occassionally need saving. For prfoessional, if the party is part of a guild or other organization, they may have others in the guild at similiar or slightly lower/higher rank then themselves.

On the Road: Individual that the party meets that can either be on a simply road trip like a pilgramage, on a mission of their own, under attack, helping the party who comes under attack, or something along those lines. If the party has some foreknowledge that the NPC is around, it makes the character more interesting. "Ah, more travelers. Strange, just the other day a priest of the war god came through here on his way to the Broken Sword Shrine to pay his respects."

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Consider letting your players help you out in that. One thing I did with my last campaign was to have each player make up a list of three people that were important to their PC. One had to be a rival of some sort, but the other two could be friends, mentors, parents, etc. Have the players give you very short descriptions so that they don't get tempted to give you stats, just quick blurbs.

 

[ergeheilalt]

I ran a game with heavy NPC involvement. They mostly just stood to the side and either proffered advice or lended a hand when asked to do so. I really didn't want the PCs to feel like they were competing with the NPCs for screen time.

The PCs ended up interacting with a peculiar crew of "just this side of piracy" bucanneers. I kept the crew small (12) and low level (party was level 5ish, crew was level 1 for the most part, captain was 6 and first made was 3). There was someone on the ship capable of doing just about everything, but no real adventurers (a physically weak cleric of the ocean goddess, a cowardly wizard (magic airship btw), a couple of rogues, a tinker, and a couple experts). The captain was who they mostly interacted with, so he had the most detail, quirks and sayings.

I scoured some of the books I've read which involved drill instructors yelling at their men and found some nice "salty" terms for him to yell at the crew, after which he would always profusely appologize to the party (two females and a paladin of some high sensibilites). In all the combat the party ran into, the NPCs only fought in one and only because the party was loosing badly.

Now that I look back, there are some great ideas introduced in Unearthed Arcana. There is always the "quirks" table in the DMG for distinguishing marks, habits and such. One way to ensure an NPC is memorable to the party is to make sure he stands out form the other figures in the game. Rather than Johnny the Cleric of Pelor who heals the party when they're in need, it could be Johnny the Cleric who randomly spouts Confucious like sayings that are really really apparent, (Pelor say, "If rain there is, wet will the ground become"). Don't be afraid to add some of the flaws from UA. Assisting NPCs shouldn't be of the same power level as the rest of the party, so the negative effects of the Flaws add a bit of background or comedy to the character while also knocking them down a bit from the PC's power level.

Just my two cents,
Erge

 

[S'mon]

I think in D&D the power level of the NPC is an important determinant, especially if you want them to travel with the PCs. Players tend to despise weak NPCs and feel threatened by or jealous of uber-powerful NPCs. The ones that work best seem to be "competent and reliable" types, within level or two of the PCs, and reasonably min-maxed to be good at their job - fighting, spellcasting, etc. Players tend not to think much of high-level Wizards with 12 hp (due to low CON) or high-level Clerics with AC 13 (due to not wearing armour).

 

[hong]

So the question is what elements are involved in a succesful NPC of this nature?

1. Find them a niche. A useful NPC is always better than a useless NPC. This is easier when you have a small group (4 or fewer players), since there'll be more unoccupied niches.

2. Don't steal the PCs' schticks. Usefulness is fine, upstaging the stars is not. If you already have a faceman bard PC, don't make another.

3. Stay in the background when drama and/or violence occurs. The NPC is there to help the PCs, not run the show. The exception would be when the plot involves the NPC personally.

4. Let the players control the NPC in combat. This reduces the chance that you'll be tempted to favour the NPC, or use them as a deus ex machina.

5. Monitor your players' reactions and be ready to change your approach as necessary.

Basically, you're creating a cohort for the party. Appropriate behaviour for a supporting-cast character is not the same as appropriate behaviour for a lead.

 

[Darklone]

1. Find them a niche.
2. Don't steal the PCs' schticks.
3. Stay in the background when drama and/or violence occurs.
4. Let the players control the NPC in combat.
5. Monitor your players' reactions and be ready to change your approach as necessary.

Nice rules. Thanky, hong.

If you want better advice, give us your group composition and tentative background info and ask for ideas.

 

[Shemeska]

1. Find them a niche.
2. Don't steal the PCs' schticks.
3. Stay in the background when drama and/or violence occurs.
4. Let the players control the NPC in combat.
5. Monitor your players' reactions and be ready to change your approach as necessary.

I'll agree with all of those except for #4. That also opens up the realm of possibility for players using the NPC as trap detection, a tank, and a target rather than a PC, especially if they don't care much about the NPC in question.

However I think #4 is also dependent on the experience of the DM in using NPCs in combar situations. If you've got a handle on it, and a good handle of the other 4 rules you have there, you should be able to run the NPC in combat without it being an issue. If you're new to it, giving the players some or all control over the NPC in those situations might work.

I've got two NPC's running alongside my PCs at the moment, one of them having been there since day 1 of the campaign a year and a half ago. One of the PCs is now engaged to her, and she's adored by them universally. She also has a very valid niche within the party, being the only rogue among the group and having faction connections within Sigil (Xoasitects). They've never felt overshadowed by her, or felt like she was holding them back in any cases.

However this may be the exception rather than the rule for how PCs react to NPCs working along with the party on a long term basis. I think it depends both on the DM and players to how it works out.